Bringing cultures together: 'scape

WHEN Xiao Xia Jiang came to North-West Tasmania almost six years ago she was the only Chinese student in her English language class.

Now most of the students in the class are Chinese.

At this time each year, Tasmania's blossoming Chinese community is busily preparing for its biggest celebration of the year the Chinese New Year an event as important in Chinese culture as Christmas is to Australian culture.

It is celebrated on the first 15 days of the Chinese calendar and is often referred to as the Lunar New Year.

Xiao Xia says she loves living here, where the freedom, the standard of living and the opportunities far surpass her life in China.

She is not surprised the Chinese Cultural Society of Tasmania has 300 more members than it did 18 months ago.

Mandarin has become the top second language spoken at home in Tasmania.

Colourful community celebrations are being held at the end of this month in Hobart to mark Chinese New Year, the Year of the Horse, symbolising travel, competition and victory.

In the North-West, most Chinese families celebrated at home because there were no public events.

Which led Xiao Xia to begin her own Chinese New Year tradition.

Four years ago she introduced a taste of her Chinese culture to her adopted community in gratitude for her new life.

When Xiao Xia put on her first Chinese New Year concert she found people enthusiastically embraced it.

``Two years ago we had more than 200 people and had to turn some away because we didn't have enough dumplings, '' she said.

A singer and musician, she will perform with Chinese and Tasmanian artists on February1.

This year the concert and cultural event (without food) brings traditional Chinese opera, one of the oldest dramatic art forms in the world, to the Latrobe Memorial Hall.

``I feel an obligation to introduce some of my Chinese culture to the North-West so people can get a chance to see it, '' Xiao Xia says.

In China she was music director at Panzhihua University in a small city of one million.

In Devonport, Xiao Xia is a disability support worker using her music skills to bring joy and happiness to her clients.

When Chinese friends visit they are amazed to see group homes for people with disabilities and 24-hour care.

``This is so different to China. I also take [Chinese friends] to the Latrobe hospital emergency department where they take lots of photos of how few people are waiting and the comfortable chairs, '' she says.

Xiao Xia was surprised at how easy it was to be able to satisfy her passion for performing solo concerts across Tasmania, something she had struggled to do in China.

``The Chinese government is very nervous of any reason people gather in large groups, '' she said.

``You need to apply for so many licences you couldn't do it, whereas here if you have the talent you can just go out and put on a concert''.

Xiao Xia says China has opened up dramatically as more of it is exposed to Western influences but is still the same China.

``From talking to my friends in China there is no real freedom compared to life in a democratic country, '' Xiao Xia said.

``I'm an Aussie now. I love it here.

``As soon as I was eligible I became an Australian citizen. This will be my first Australia Day as a citizen.''

She'd heard Tasmania was beautiful but coming from a country with a population of more than a billion she was not prepared for the lack of people.

``When I arrived, oh God it blew me away, '' she said.

``The day was overcast; I went to Hawley Beach.

``I saw the orange rocks, the ocean was grey and cloudy in the sky the beauty of it was amazing.

``It was the first time in my life I had seen the ocean.''

In Panzhihua she lived in a small flat on top of many others. Streets bustled with people everywhere she looked.

``When I looked out the window at Port Sorell there was no one. After dinner there was no one, '' she said.

``I was so amazed and impressed at the distance there is between neighbours.

``I love it because the birds wake me up here.

``I can't remember how many times I have looked out my window and said to myself `how beautiful'.''

Xiao Xia's enthusiasm for her new life was only being inhibited by her lack of English.

``The struggle I had was thinking about my future here, '' she said.

``Where should I start and what would I like to do in my lifetime here?

``I cried a few times thinking about it.''

She got her first job washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant at Ulverstone and tried not to speak Mandarin too often at work.

``You do miss speaking your language you miss it like food.

``I listened carefully to people speaking. I turned on the radio and watched television.

``After a year I noticed I had started to talk to myself in English.

``One day waiting for a traffic light to turn green I said to myself in English `should I turn left or right'?

``It amazed me.''

Xiao Xia's father was a traditional opera singer.

Her mother worked a routine job often leaving her to be cared for by her grandmother.

China relaxed its strict single-

child policy last year, which changed the negative attitude to the birth of girl child.

When Xiao Xia was born it was different.

``One afternoon my mum came home to find my grandmother covering my face with the doona, '' she said.

``Mum said if she came two or three minutes later I could have died.

``Grandma didn't like me because I was a girl.''

Both her parents died at a young age more than a decade ago. Her two brothers live in China.

``My ambition is to stay here and do my diploma in community service, '' Xiao Xia said.

``I want to be a case worker to help more people and if I don't get it, the knowledge I get from studying will help me become a more professional support worker.''

She speaks English well but felt she would not pass written exams required to become a music teacher here.

Instead, Xiao Xia has discovered a calling after falling into disability care.

``In the first place I was doing jobs that matched my English skills, '' she said.

``After dish washer I sorted onions and carrots and harvested mushrooms where a lady at the factory told me about this job as a support worker at Devonfield [Enterprises] where I could still use my music to bring happiness.

``I loved it immediately.

``Last night I worked with a man with Parkinson's who couldn't move and we were singing together.

``I think I have found my balance.''

Xiao Xia disagrees with those people who say Australia is lacking in culture.

``I have mixed with a lot of Australian people and I love the culture and lifestyle here, '' she said.

``Australians are friendly and welcoming.

``I don't think I miss out on anything living here. I'm still learning every day.''

The day before Chinese New Year the population of China creates a mass traffic jam across the country as more than a billion people try to get home to families to celebrate together.

``New Year's Eve is about generations of families getting together for a feast to welcome in the new year together.

``It's very important to cook lots of food.

``There's a Chinese saying `if you can't finish your meal you will always have food on the table all year'.

``Making dumplings is a tradition which brings families together a bit like at a barbecue in Australia.''

Xiao Xia laughs when she says it didn't take her long to discover the truth about what happens at barbecues.

``Aussie men might think they do all the work at a barbecue when it is the women who have already done the real work in the kitchen.''

Xiao Xia's afternoon of Chinese culture to celebrate the Year of the Horse is at 3pm on February 1, Latrobe Memorial Hall and Performing Arts Centre. It will feature Xiao Xia Jiang, Zhu Li Hall, Carolyn Harris, Yyan Ng, Leonie Gryta, and John and Heather Grainger. Xiao Xia, of Han dynasty, will talk about customs of China's 56 ethnic groups. Tickets ($20 adults, $12 children under 12) are available at the Latrobe Council.